The departure of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton helped pave the way for Kennedy’s possible new job, we hear: as an ambassador, Kennedy would report to the Secretary of State. And although talks about Kennedy potentially taking an ambassadorship predated John Kerry’s arrival at Foggy Bottom, her relationship with Clinton is just a touch strained — recall Kennedy’s blockbuster endorsement of then-Sen. Obama over Clinton, the party favorite.

Kennedy’s rapport with the new secretary of state is much stronger. John Kerry was the junior partner in the Senate to Kennedy’s Uncle Teddy for decades.

As for where she’ll be dispatched, that’s apparently not final. FOX News reported earlier this month that she was in line for a posting in Canada, but she apparently wasn’t overly keen on that. (Unclear how the Canadians felt.) There was also talk of her going to a job at State, in the area of diplomacy.

The Bloomberg report that she’s heading for Japan may be closer to the mark. We hear someone who had been penciled in for that job backed out, opening up the Tokyo posting.

It seems the White House and State are still working on this, but the feeling is she’s looking at the idea favorably and the Japanese — who are so enamored of the “big name” ambassador, like legendary Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, Vice President Walter Mondale, former House Speaker Tom Foley, and former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker — are delighted at the possibility.

Emily Heil is the co-author of the Reliable Source and previously helped pen the In the Loop column with Al Kamen.

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